Enough snow fell on January 27-28 to enable cross-country skiing and with the latest snowfall February 20th, there should be plenty! Some of the cross-country trails were groomed Wednesday evening 2/13 but most are snow-covered again. Conditions for Snowshoeing look good. The Park entry road and parking lot are nicely plowed as of noon Thursday February 21st.

This picture shows the winter sun over the Sally Manzara Interpretive Nature Center located in Lake Elmo’s Sunfish Lake Park. There is no admission charge to the Park, which is open dawn to dusk. Admission to the nature center is also free. Generally the nature center is open to the public weekday mornings from 9 AM-Noon and Monday and Thursday afternoons Noon to 4 PM. More hours soon! It is also open by appointment for groups. You may call the nature center at 651-408-2838 to reach the receptionist or leave a voice mail at any time.

Times of events and programs are shown on the Calendar (click on tab above). For a more complete description of each event, and sign-up instructions, go to the “Event and Program Descriptions” tab.

A new resident, Downy, was welcomed on January 25th – replacing Jaime Cardinal.

The Sunfish Lake Park Buckthorn Festival took place November 10th from 10 AM to 2 PM. 70 Buckthorn Warriors competed on six teams to remove buckthorn! Then everyone lunched on unique foods, enjoyed accordion music, and played buckthorn games. We were assisted by the Munch Bunch goats – see video clips below –

Pictures taken at the nature center can be viewed at the “Picture Gallery” tab above.

For volunteer opportunities, go to Positions Available tab.

The Friends of Lake Elmo’s Sunfish Lake Park rely on donations to operate the Sally Manzara Interpretive Nature Center as a community resource within our Mission. We have also officially “Adopted” Sunfish Lake Park in the Lake Elmo Adopt-a-Park Program.